Reading Into Things

The past tense of run is ran. For lead, it's led. But for read, it's read. Why not red? Well, ok, that's obvious. Why not redd or even readed? Nope, it's read. It's spelled the same, you just have to say it differently. You have to know when to use that short vowel sound, or the long one. You can sound like a neanderthal if you're not careful. So, context is everything. Words around words help to show you how to read them. It's the literary budy-system. Once you've read it right, you can read it right, right?

This is about taking a step back and looking at more than, in this case, just one word. People talk about the big picture, not just seeing the forest for the trees, saying you're from Earth in the Milky Way when asked for your address. Ok, I made that last one up. The idea here is, keep things in perspective. Ultimately, it comes down to reading the whole into the parts. We read into things in the wrong way all the time, but that doesn't mean we're not supposed to do it.

A man named Cleopas was walking home from Jerusalem one day. Another was with him - possibly his wife. They were talking on the road about the crazy events of the last few days. Someone caught up to them, and asked them what they were discussing, and why they were so sad. They had been talking about a man they had hoped would be one to free them from Roman tyranny. They had hoped it would be the Redeemer. But he had been crucified. Three days later, some women went to the tomb where he was put, but he wasn't there. Angels told them he was alive, but he hadn't been found yet. That was where they ended their story. Jesus hadn't been found.

The man listening to this story called them foolish. He then walked them through the Old Testemant, starting at Genesis and going all the way through the Prophets (even the "minor" ones!), showing them that this one, called the Christ, had to suffer and then enter into his glory. Jesus himself was teaching them (not prominent disciples, but nobody's really - like you and me!). But he did not allow them to recognize him. I've heard someone say that they just needed to see his scars as he broke the bread and then they realized who it was. But that's not what we read there. The good book actually says they were "kept" from recognizing him. That's an action someone was taking to prevent them. There's a reason for that. He wanted himself to be known primarily through His Word, and not through the senses. Our senses can deceive us. Jesus is called "the Word". We shouldn't be surprised to find him living that out.

I love their response to this when thinking about it later, "Didn't our hearts burn within us... while he opened the Scriptures to us?" No indigestion here - this was before they ate. The Scriptures, the Bible, the Old Testament in particular, had been opened - and what was the key? What was the thing that made it "open" for them? It was no less than Christ himself. He is the big picture. He was reading himself into the Word. We can take a step back, and see Jesus from start to finish in this God-breathed book we call the bible. It's not an end in itself. We are supposed to see past it. We are not to be bible-worshippers. So read Jesus into it.

Now, we find (as usual) that Jesus humbly allows his Word to speak for him. He could have simply opened their eyes instead of their hearts. But where would we be then? We who haven't seen him - though we long to. Our hearts can burn too, as we're distracted from ourselves by the central thread and theme of history. His Story. The past tense of read sounds like red. I see Him in that colour too.

BJ